Wiry frame; skinny build with long limbs; room for growth but body is similar to a Tim Lincecum mold; slight rotational delivery; helps to hide ball out of hand; 3/4th arm slot; quick arm; delivery had better drive this outing but was still mildly upright; still has slight rock; establishes good extension on front leg; decent plane; actually loses some plane when not as upright, but gains better explosion on FB; was landing on extending foot too far right in my last viewing; causing him to leak open and lose body unison; arm was flying up and outward causing pitches to sail and cast; Berry fixed the landing issue in this outing and was much more crisp coming towards home; delivery is smooth and he has a clean arm action; delivery times 1.38 - 1.47.

Evaluator

Tucker Blair

Report Date

08/05/2014

Affiliate

Bowie Baysox (AA, Orioles)

Dates Seen

8/5/2014

OFP

55

Realistic

50; Middle Reliever

MLB ETA

2015

Video

No

Pitch Type

Present Grade

Future Grade

Sitting Velocity

Peak Velocity

Report

FB

50

55

89-93

93

Mild arm-side run; able to run in on LHH and they struggle to barrel at times; mild life; will lose some of his plane when driving more towards home; better explosion than in last viewing; showed more 91-93 velo band than last viewing; average command; still has trouble consistently locating on inside corners and will leave within the zone too much at times; deception does help play up the pitch; lefties struggle to identify the FB inside.

CH

50

55

77-81

82

Best pitch in this specific outing; CH shows more movement than FB; average fade and arm-side run; able to locate on outside corners in this outing; much better against RHH in this outing; command average overall; left a few too firm up in the zone; release points much better than last outing due to fixing some of the plant foot and arm slot issues; works best in the 79-80 velo band.

CB

50

55

72-77

78

1-6 offering; mild depth; good ones have decent spin; all over the place in this outing; fixed the arm slot issue from plant foot; could not find the correct release point; pitch was continuously released too early and hung up in zone without efficient spin or depth; was able to get away with a few casts; would not happen at higher levels; command was fringe in this outing; the good CB were effective and he was able to rack up multiple swinging strikes.

Overall

In my second viewing in a span of two weeks, Berry showed generally the same game. He is a crafty lefty that has average to solid-average stuff, but can become inconsistent with his release points and arm slot. When at his best, Berry has potential to be a backend starter at the highest level.

Consistency issues likely move Berry to the bullpen where he does not have to rely on all three pitches if he does not have a specific pitch working for that night. He is ready for a major league bullpen right now, but he needs more time to develop if the Orioles decide to keep him in a starting role. I liked seeing improvement in the mechanics from one viewing to the next, and he was able to fix the plant foot issue within this outing again.